PROSECUTORS TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY IN WESTERFIELD CASE

Union Tribune/KFMB ^ | April 25, 2002 | Harry Jones

[FresnoDA]

Westerfield hearing could be focused on death penalty

By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 25, 2002

A San Diego Superior Court hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. today for David Westerfield, the Sabre Springs man accused of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

The attorneys involved in the case are prohibited from discussing it because of a gag order, but it is possible that prosecutors will announce whether they will seek the death penalty against the self-employed engineer.

His attorneys have insisted on Westerfield's right to a speedy trial, which is scheduled to begin May 17. He is being held in County Jail without bail.

After Westerfield's arrest Feb. 22, prosecutors filed special allegations in the case, accusing him of committing murder during a kidnapping, which gives them the option of seeking his execution if convicted.

District Attorney Paul Pfingst has a protocol on reaching a decision that usually takes several months; the case is reviewed by a panel of senior prosecutors. Defense attorneys also have the option of meeting with Pfingst.

It has been just over two months since the charges against Westerfield were brought, and because of the gag order it has not been possible to determine whether the panel made a recommendation or if Westerfield's attorneys met with Pfingst.

The district attorney makes the final decision. If he chooses not to seek the death penalty, Westerfield would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Danielle's family lived two doors from Westerfield. Her parents reported her missing Feb. 2, and police quickly focused on Westerfield as the prime suspect.

Prosecutors said DNA testing proved that blood found on some of Westerfield's clothing and in his motor home was Danielle's.

Volunteer searchers found the girl's body Feb. 27 east of El Cajon in a stand of oak trees just off Dehesa Road. The cause of death has not been determined because of decomposition of the body, officials said.

[FresnoDA]

This story???

Goats, Chickens Found At Psychic Business

Animals Appeared Set For Sacrifice, Police Say

Posted: 10:56 a.m. PST March 25, 2002
Updated: 12:00 p.m. PST March 25, 2002

SAN DIEGO -- Police checking a psychic-readings business where noises were heard early Monday found animals inside -- some alive and some dead, authorities said.

	Animals Appear To Have Been Used For Sacrifice

Officers were flagged down in the 3600 block of El Cajon Boulevard around 4:45 a.m. and asked to check the business, said San Diego police spokesperson Bill Robinson.

Patrons to a nearby bar told police that they were hearing "a lot of weird sounds" coming from the back of the City Heights business, 10News reported.

"They have, like, animal sacrifice," witness Anton Quendig said. "It's like voodoo religion, from the Caribbean."

The officers found some 48 animals inside, including goats and chickens, Robinson said. A skull found inside appeared to be human, but was later determined to be a fake, 10News reported.

Animal control officers were called to the scene.

"A majority of the animals were very thirsty, because they had no access to food or water. It was warm inside the boxes and the bags, and everything we seized them out of," Lt. Laura Ward, of Animal Control, said. "A large goat was tied tightly inside a box, so he was somewhat in distress. We have since had the veterinarian look at him -- treat him -- and we anticipate that he's going to be okay."

Police said there was indeed evidence of animal sacrifice at the business. Police told 10News that the sacrificing of chickens is allowed under the law.

However, the business may face animal cruelty charges because of the way it allegedly treated the goats, according to 10News.

Two people have been taken into custody by police, 10News reported.

 

[demsux]

Yeah, it was freaky. Enough so that I have researched the subject a bit. It exists, but law enforcement will not acknowledge it.

[FresnoDA]

Cops call Jahi case an abduction

Jahi Turner

---

Jahi is described as a light-skinned African-American, weighing about 30 pounds, 30 inches tall, with black hair. He was wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt with an embroidered image of Winnie the Pooh and possibly Tigger.

He also wore blue nylon cargo pants with an orange drawstring at the waist and Michael Jordan sneakers.

Jahi turned 2 in February.

---

Previous and related stories

• Missing boy's neighbors watching, wondering (Saturday, April 27)
• Boy disappears in park (Friday, April 26)

  ---

  Want to help?
  To volunteer to help search for Jahi Turner, provide information to the police or to see whether Jahi has been found, call the San Diego Police Department Citizens Access Phone System at (619) 570-1070.

  Volunteer searchers were not being requested as of 6 p.m. Friday, but police are taking the names of potential volunteers.

  ---

  Resources
  
• San Diego Police Department announcement

Missing 2-year-old didn't disappear on his own, police conclude

 

By Jeff McDonald and Joe Hughes
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

April 27, 2002

Finding no sign that little Jahi Turner disappeared on his own, despite two days of intense searching, San Diego police last night formally classified the case an abduction and steered the investigation to its top detectives.

The announcement came as investigators began scaling back the hunt that at its busiest involved more than 100 police and Sheriff's Department volunteers.

"We don't know who took him; we don't know why he was taken; we don't know where he is now," San Diego police spokesman David Cohen said. "We simply can no longer conclude that this 2-year-old boy walked away by himself."

He urged the public to come forward with any relevant information. He also said investigators have found no evidence to confirm or contradict the version of events described by Jahi's stepfather.

"We're going to go until we solve this case," Cohen said. "We are very much committed to finding this boy and hopefully finding him well."

Jahi was last seen Thursday in a Balboa Park playground several blocks from his Golden Hill home, according to the stepfather's missing-child report.

Police said Tieray Jones, 23, told them he left the playground to buy a soft drink from a vending machine about 2:15 p.m. Jahi was gone when Jones returned 15 minutes later, the stepfather told investigators.

Jahi was described as being a light-skinned African-American, with brown eyes and short dark hair. He was last known to be wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt featuring Winnie the Pooh. He also wore blue nylon cargo pants with orange drawstrings and a brand of Michael Jordan sneakers.

Jahi weighs about 30 pounds and stands 30 inches tall.

For the second day, officers searched around 28th and Cedar streets, where Jahi apparently became missing. They hunted by air and on the ground, using a helicopter, dogs and officers on horseback.

Police were also looking for a woman with two small children whom the stepfather said he saw at the playground about the time of the disappearance.

Officers searched homes within a mile radius of the park, and they questioned registered sex offenders who live in the area.

Residents and passers-by were interviewed. Some left flowers and candles at the family's apartment and worried for Jahi's safety.

"We hope and pray they find the boy," one resident said.

The scene was eerily reminiscent of early February, when scores of investigators converged on the Sabre Springs neighborhood in north San Diego to hunt for 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

Volunteer searchers found her body about three weeks later in a remote area of East County. Neighbor David Westerfield is facing a murder trial next month and, if convicted, a possible death sentence in that case.

By yesterday afternoon, the operators of the Web site dedicated to Danielle featured an alert asking anyone with information about Jahi to contact police. It showed two photos of Jahi and provided a flier for downloading. The site is http://daniellemissing.tripod.com/

In Jahi's case, police are not welcoming help from civilians. Instead of allowing widespread volunteer searches as in the van Dam case, officials are collecting names and numbers of people wanting to assist. Police said people can call (619) 744-9521.

The stepfather and the boy's mother, 18-year-old Tameka Jones, have been "extremely cooperative" during extensive questioning during the past two days, Cohen said. Police have sealed their apartment to preserve potential evidence. The couple are staying in a hotel.

Tameka Jones is a Navy sailor who has been assigned since February to the amphibious ship Rushmore.

She returned from Frederick, Md., last weekend with Jahi, who until then had been living with his maternal grandparents, according to The Frederick News-Post.Tieray Jones was caring for Jahi while his mother was at sea, police said.

Investigators declined to identify Jahi's father or grandparents, but ruled out the father as a suspect.

At the request of San Diego investigators, police in Frederick interviewed the boy's father and maternal grandparents yesterday. They could shed no light on the disappearance, said Lt. Tom Chase of the Frederick Police Department.

Jahi's father was recently released from custody on unspecified charges, Maryland officials said.

The Joneses were questioned again yesterday as Tieray Jones walked police through the area where he said he was last with the boy.

The Joneses could not be reached for comment, and have not made a public plea for help. They have known each other about two years and were recently married. They moved into the Beech Street Knoll Apartments about two weeks ago. It's a Navy complex that features a play area similar to the one where Tieray Jones said he took the boy Thursday.

Police yesterday called in a bloodhound from Riverside County – the same hound used in the van Dam case – to pick up any scent. A tiny white shoe belonging to Jahi was used so the dog could key on his smell. But the bloodhound turned up nothing.

Officers searched trash containers near the family's apartment and were seeking a search warrant to enter the apartment to look for clues.

Michele Ponce lives a few doors from Jahi. She met Tameka Jones a week ago when she came over to pick out a kitten from a litter of five. She said she used to feel safe living in Navy housing. But not anymore.

"In two years, when my husband's time is up with the Navy, we are going to move back home to a small town," Ponce said. "In the meantime, I have to watch my children . . . like a mother bear."

[demsux]

The stepfather and the boy's mother, 18-year-old Tameka Jones, have been "extremely cooperative" during extensive questioning during the past two days,

Uh Oh, that'll make them suspects for sure.

[Jaded]

Only if they sweat profusely. I wonder what the definition of profusely is. I wonder what the definition of is is.

[RnMomof7]

BTTT

[RnMomof7]

Calling Amore, calling Amore. I know that the prosecution has to turn over evidence and stuff in discovery. You could probably explain exactly what. But does defense have to turn over what they find? And how much of it?

good question!

[Jaded]

Interesting post from the UnionTrib site: It couldn't have happened this way...could it?

Given the attention, or rather lack of attention given to the disappearance of Jahi Turner it makes you go hmmmm.

From SandyYeggo On Line "In Jahi's case, police are not welcoming help from civilians. Instead of allowing widespread volunteer searches as in the van Dam case, officials are collecting names and numbers of people wanting to assist."

And this: "Police have sealed their apartment to preserve potential evidence. The couple are staying in a hotel."

The child wasn't even taken from the apartment, yet it is sealed as a crime scene.

Hey what's up with that?

[RnMomof7]

"Just a hunch"?...Oh, so that is why they went back after 20 volunteers had searched the same area...and EUREKA there she was!

PING)))))

[RnMomof7]

The thing with the location of the body is again common sense..this guy had driven into the desert .that is well documented..yet the body is very near..and as pointed out dumped most likely AFTER they had started to question Westerfield..would he have (knowing he was a suspect) taken the body and moved it..ummmmmmmmm very unlikely

So the defense needs to get some of the origianl searchers of that area on the stand to say they looked but did not see it there in plain sight..

[RnMomof7]

No common sense allowed in San Diego ..sorry

[RnMomof7]

So, who puts dirty underwear back in the dresser drawer? I think this lady is on to something!

Did the child put them in the drawer? why? Wasn't it you that noted that discharge is a sign of sexual abuse...Where is his defense team ???

[RnMomof7]

More to the point he would have been clearly visible moving the child down stairs..look at the loft railing in the upstairts hall...so as he moved her the parents or any of the 'visitors' going to the kitchen would have seen him!

[RnMomof7]

I just saw something about a "viagara " drink on fox today..that is funny..she needed an "energy drink"..what to go home and heat up that famous all day pizza???..Incredible

[RnMomof7]

Has anyone started an office pool as to how long this sham marriage will last after the trial? I am sure they have both met more interesting in the course of their recreation..

[Jaded]

Under a gag.

[spectre]

Not just that, but that road was supposedly a common route for bikers and joggers to take. As unattractive as this is going to sound, {it has been called to our attention before}, that if the body had been there for a month, then at the stages of decomposition, there should have been a huge detectable smell, long before the body was discovered.

Nothing...not a wiff.

Sorry I had to be so graphic. sw

[spectre]

There was a mention of a "doggie gate" somewhere on the stairwell. Anyone remember that?

DW also would have had to "step over" the gate, or while holding the child, dislodge it.

Unless, of course, Damon has an alibi to say that the gate wasn't closed that evening.

He has an answer for most everything...and the fools in the DA's office buy it, hook, line and sinker.

sw

[skipjackcity]

There is something up with that other case. That guy is either lying or is an outright retard. My son was born the same month as that boy (Feb. 2000 apparently) and there is no way I'd take my eyes off him for more than about 30 seconds in a park(if that). He could run in front of a car, fall off a piece of playground equipment, who knows what. I get up on the equipment with him so he doesn't fall off. Yet this guy wandered off for something to eat/drink and came back in 15 minutes. He's either brain-dead or is covering something up. I hope the child is OK, but at this point it's not hopeful. Besides according to SDPD standard operating procedure, if the guy is cooperating, he must be hiding something(right?)"HEAVY SARCASM". It's only if he appears to be uncooperative that he has nothing to hide, right? Up is down and down is up? Will some now say I'm not being compassionate enough and these parents are the victims here? Well, the mother is the victim and the child is the victim, but this fellow is not a victim--He is responsible.

[Jaded]

Hey, not really, it is an established acceptable practice to leave children unattended in SD for up to an hour, so long as you are purchasing food/beverage/party supplies. /sarcasm off.

At first I was under the impression he left the child with other people to get a beverage. Twisted. I'm outraged that this isn't getting the same attention as other missing children in SD have gotten. Oh, but the VD's have somehow asked Kinkos to print up 50,000 flyers because they feel his pain. On the web site though they are asking for corporate donations to contribute to this printing effort. Sorry, I know how cynical and unfeeling that sounds.